Are you scrambling to find a unique gift for the special someone? Well, we think nothing says “unique” like a recumbent bike or trike! Show the person in your life you were actually listening when they brought up the recumbent idea for the tenth or eleventh time. It’s time to get rolling pain free and we’re here to help. Between now and January 1st, 2019, we are putting all our recumbents on sale at the lowest price of the year!

If you have been waiting to order a new bike or trike from us, now is the time! Any new bike or trike order placed by January 1st, 2019 will receive the holiday discount. Please don’t delay if you want it under the tree, it can take weeks to months for a special order trike or bike to arrive. Click Here for Details.

We will provide a Printable PDF Gift Voucher for orders that can’t make it in time so you have something to put under the tree.

Catrke has launched its 2018 Elements Collection colors: Hyper Yellow, Arctic Aqua, Fire Red and Alpine White. The colors are $200 off MSRP November 1 through December 31, 2018. Some very cool colors here. Contact your local dealer for this limited time offer!

Welcome to our full coverage of Recumbent Cycle-Con 2018! This was one of the best RC-C’s that I can recall. The turnout in Nashville was great and we had a lot of new toys to look at. I want to thank everyone that stopped by and said hello and even bought some stuff! Those cool tee shirts in the photo are LONG gone. I also want to thank RC-C for giving me the Industry Recognition award for this year. It was truly an honor. (Video of this is at the end of this article.)

There isn’t coverage of every single booth because there just isn’t room for it, but we got all of the new stuff.

Your questions about the show are welcome on live chat. We have tons of pictures of all the latest bikes, trikes and accessories and our distinguished panel (who all attended the event) will be on to share what items caught their attention. Join ‘BentRider Online’s Bryan Ball and Larry Varney, Tray Bourgoyne, Peter Stull, Doug Davis and you’ll have the next best thing to being there yourself.

LATE ADDITION: We’ve just added John Schlitter of Schlitter Bikes and Mike Mowett for commentary on the HPV races we covered at the racetrack next door. They both participated in the race and will share their experience and thoughts on why you should consider racing your bent next time.

Don’t worry… I’ll have all of the Recumbent Cycle-Con coverage up as soon as I get home and can arrange it into something that makes sense. Probably Wednesday. But in the meantime (as I sit here in a cheap hotel room because I’m up way too early), I wanted to say thank you to all of my readers and message board participants.

At this year’s show (which has been GREAT so far, by the way) I was honored to receive the Recumbent Industry Recognition Award. It was truly humbling and felt amazing to be recognized by all of my peers in the Recumbent Industry for the work we’ve done here at BentRider over the last 18-plus years. It’s a night I will not soon forget. However…

My name is on the trophy, but it really does belong to all of YOU who have made this site what it is. All of you who read and share the articles and all of you who participate on the message boards and have made this community what it is. My grand scheme for BentRider was always to build a community of like-minded people who had the same passion for recumbents that I have. This award makes me feel like I pulled that off and I couldn’t have done it without you.

NASHVILLE (Recumbent Cycle-Con Trade Show and Convention, Booth 43) — Bacchetta Bicycles, Inc., the St. Petersburg, Fla.- based manufacturer of recumbent cycles, today announced the Bacchetta CarbonTrike 2.0 (CT2.0), the world’s first mass-produced Carbon Fiber Trike.In line with the spirit of Bacchetta’s philosophy of “Real World Performance”, the CT2.0 is built to meet the needs of a wide range of riders seeking the ultimate everyday performance trike. With a full Monocoque carbon fiber frame, adjustable seat and boom, interchangeable dropouts, and “custom fit” seat foam — combined with a host of upgradeable and add-on features — the CT2.0 extends Bacchetta’s legacy in pioneering carbon-fiber recumbent design.

The CT2.0 was designed by Swedish trike innovators Lars Viebke and Artur Adson in a joint venture with Stockholm-based CARBONTRIKES of Sweden.“We have been perfecting the design of our original CarbonTrike for a decade, and we were unable to keep up with the increasing demand for our custom-built trikes,” explains Viebke.“Our joint venture with Bacchetta allows us to take the design of the trike to the next level and bring them to the world in quantity. Bacchetta’s manufacturing, supply chain management, marketing and sales expertise is a perfect fit for us.”

According to Mike Wilkerson, vice president of sales and marketing at Bacchetta, “This entry into the recumbent trike market is not only a huge step for Bacchetta, but for the trike industry as well.We have identified a market niche that allows us to leverage our expertise in customer service and manufacturing with the design skills of CARBONTRIKES to create a revolution in the trike industry.”

Depending on configuration, the CarbonTrike 2.0 weighs 25 to 27 pounds and will retail for approximately $6000. The Trike will be officially released at the 2018 Recumbent Cycle-Con Trade Show and Convention Oct. 12-14 at the Nashville Fairgrounds and will be available for sale in the Spring of 2019.For more information, call Bacchetta at 1-866-364-9677 or visit www.bacchetta.com.

ICE is coming pulling out all the stops for Recumbent Cycle-Con this year with an much-improved VTX, a new Tour option for the Sprint X and a Steps 6100 assist option for the Adventure. Photo gallery after the jump and more info at icetrikes.co. Read More »

I have been wanting to do a long-term review on the “perfect” commuter/touring trike. Of course, that’s pretty subjective, so some of you may disagree with my configuration – and you may even have some valid points. But this is my review, and your suggestions/complaints will have to wait. Read More »

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Bacchetta Bicycles, Inc., the world’s premier recumbent bicycle company, today announced an exclusive partnership with Pelso, Hungarian manufacturer of the Brevet recumbent bicycle. In the partnership, Bacchetta will sell, distribute and support the Pelso product line in the Americas.Read More »

Working on satellites and space shuttles gave Tim ideas about applying space age technologies to create faster more efficient bikes. We’ll see how this all happened with his slideshow presentation.

We also welcome Chuck Coyne to preview next month’s Recumbent Cycle-Con in Nashville. ‘BentRider Online’s Bryan Ball will talk about a cheeky Bacchetta Bikes possible new trike and an HP Velotechnik Gekko giveaway at RCC. Peter Stull will school us on the history of suspensions on bents and Dennis Voorhees will do the sports including a Battle Mountain wrap.

Greenspeed will be showing some new models at RC-C this October! One is already available. Somehow I missed the Magnum BW. More info at http://greenspeed-trikes.com

From Greenspeed Email…

The Magnum BW (Big Wheel)Has a 26” rear wheel which improves the look of the Magnum, and keeps the rear derailleur and chain higher for off road use. It has been available since June > Full details here

The X7 Sports TrikeIs a lightweight foldable trike with 30 speeds with 16” wheels which have both less inertia and lower rolling resistance than the traditional 20” inch wheels, giving both better acceleration and higher speeds with a 28/42/56 triple crankset. Unlike the Aero, but like the GT20, the seat is adjustable for both angle and height.​​​​​​​The GT20 – RS Trike is a GT20This trike with rear suspension. For the RS, the gear train has been upgraded from a 24 speed system to a 27 speed system. Like the GT20, the seat is adjustable for both angle and height. And is available in red, blue, green, yellow and orange.

Lightning Cycle Dynamics has announced some big changes to their line-up. the flagship and iconic P-38 gets Shimano hydraulic disc brakes across the line and a new carbon fiber fork. The Phantom II also gets new components and a mid-racer option. More info at http://www.lightningbikes.com.

In addition ‘BentRider Online’s Bryan Ball has some BREAKING NEWS for us from a major bent manufacturer, Peter Stull will enlighten us on the history of mid-drives and Dennis Voorhees will talk about some bent inclusive Senior Games in the US. All this made possible by our friendly sponsors TerraCycle, Velocity USA and trailside.bike. Please join us on live chat and share your thoughts and questions with all your fellow bent riders. See you at 2!

By BRYAN J. BALL
Managing Editor

It’s been awhile since delta trikes were a hot topic in the recumbent world. Tadpoles have dominated for well over a decade. The one company that has produced deltas that consistently appealed to trike enthusiasts was German manufacturer, Hase. Leave it to them to introduce a truly innovative new delta that could very possibly change the game. This new offering is called the Trigo. Read More »